Hungarian prank party adorns Budapest gypsy musicians’ memorial with toilet brushes after minister’s scandalous remarks – photos

Hungarian prank party’s ‘toilet-brush protest’ in Budapest, aimed at memorials to world-famous Hungary-born gypsy musicians, has sparked fury following the transport minister’s scandalous remarks about the Roma community.

Hungary’s Transport and Construction Minister János Lázár, acting on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s instructions, has been holding nationwide sessions dubbed ‘Lázárinfos’, where members of the public can question him on any topic.

A few days ago, in one reply, he described Hungary’s Roma community as a labour reserve, ready to take on – in place of migrants – the jobs that Hungarians shun. Such as cleaning train lavatories, for instance. The comment sparked nationwide outrage, with even Fidesz supporter Roma influencers condemning it, and prompting the Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party (MKKP) to voice its criticism in the most provocatively controversial manner.

Hungarian prank party stages toilet-brush protest

The stunt by the party’s Szeged activists also caused a stir, infuriating Józsefváros’s liberal mayor, András Pikó, who insisted it was not legitimate political protest against Lázár’s words, but rather a desecration of the Hungarian culture-enriching art of gypsy musicians, which has earned international acclaim.

The Szeged MKKP activists apologised for their actions, but remarked that ‘we pondered long and hard whether a message about the state of our public life justified involving the statues of past artists’. In the end, they concluded it did.